Carl Edwards gets new Crew Chief

Bob Osborne, the crew chief of Carl Edwards stepped down today citing medical reasons.
Osborne will remain with the organization as a senior member of the organization’s management team and steering committee.

“I have had the pleasure of working with Carl Edwards for the past nine years and, during that time, my focus has been building a championship-caliber program,” Osborne said. “I’m proud of the 18 wins we’ve had together in Sprint Cup Series competition and our two second-place points finishes.”

Osborne had run the No. 99 team since 2004, with Edwards took over that ride for the final 13 races of that season. Last season, Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart tied for the chase, but due to Stewart’s wins; he was given the tiebreaker.

Osborne will be replaced as crew chief by Chad Norris, who has been with Roush since 2005 as a crew chief in both the Nationwide and Truck Series. He has served as crew chief for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. during his limited Sprint Cup Series schedule.

Norris’ first role as crew chief at Roush Fenway came in 2005 with the No. 17 Nationwide Series team. In his eight years with Roush Fenway, Norris led multiple teams to Victory Lane, including Trevor Bayne’s inaugural Nationwide Series win at Texas Motor Speedway in November 2011.

“Our commitment to winning a championship with the No. 99 in 2012 has not waivered,” Roush said. “I’m committed to providing the resources to Carl and to his team to do that, and this restructuring of Bob’s role and the introduction of Chad Norris as the crew chief for the No. 99 will put us in the best possible position for these final seven races before the Chase begins.”

Carl currently sits -46 points behind Brad Keselowski for 10th place. Carl has not won a race stemming back to Las Vegas last season; 52 races ago and with the Chase’s heavy influence on wins at 11th in points it puts him in danger of not being able to clinch a spot.